Anusha’s Inspiring Cancer Journey: Triumph and Hope

Life is a journey and your soul is just a traveller. Our souls have existed for a thousand years before we were born and will continue to exist for a thousand more years after we die. Reincarnation is the sweet hope that we will meet the beautiful souls we have known again and again!!! 

Anusha came to my clinic, her eyes glittering with joy. 

‘Sir I am pregnant’, she said.

And we shared a moment of the pure joy of embracing a new life.

Her tears rolled down her cheeks and I could sense why she cried. I have known this girl and her parents for the last 15 years. I have seen them in their highs and their lows. My memories rolled back to the time I first met her.

A wild child with big beautiful eyes full of dreams, that was 14-year-old Anusha. She wanted to become a model, but her parents were skeptical and scared of the glittery world. They have seen the tough life, the ugly reality that a 14-year-old is untouched by!

They thought that she should complete her studies and then she can choose her career path. But Anusha argued that she has to start by 15 and only then she can make it by the age of 19. In the modelling industry age is a big thing.

Anusha’s dreams were too bright and big for her simple parents, they didn’t know what to do. They brought the girl to me for counseling. I spoke to her and listened to her plans. That little kid had a better perspective on her life than most grown-ups.

She was planning for dental corrections and then some portfolio shoots. Once she started getting paid, she would do a few plastic surgeries. She was trying to convince me that time was running out fast and that she must start early to make it to her goal.

‘Doctor uncle, I am running out of time and they are not ready to understand!’, she said.

After listening to her I understood asking her to postpone her dreams won’t work. So, I advised her to get the dental corrections done, it would take a year and, in that time, she can focus on her 10^th. 

By the time she is 16, she will be more mature and ready for this journey.

Suddenly she got up, ‘That’s the perfect plan. Thank you so much, uncle. I shall convince my parents about the dental surgery and after my 10^th I will be ready!

After six months 

‘Sir, my parents are fighting. And… and my mother hit my dad on his head. He is bleeding… I don’t know what to do, Anusha said crying. 

‘Take him to the nearest hospital and get the sutures. Take someone along, any friend or neighbor. 

I called her the next morning and the storm had passed, and things were calmer now. 

A few days later, her mother visited me. 

‘Sir, I come from a small village near Belagavi. I wanted to marry my maternal uncle’s son, but he moved to the USA and my life changed all of a sudden. My parents forced marriage on me and before I could even register my heartbreak, Anusha was born.’

‘A few years ago, my cousin divorced his wife and came back to Bangalore. He started visiting my place frequently and my husband did not like him for some reason. Maybe because some old flames never die out.

‘That day, my husband started shouting at me. He accused me of having an affair and used offensive words.’

‘I lost my mind. I am spending every day of my precious life with a man I don’t love. I am raising a child who thinks I am jealous of her beauty and I don’t want her to succeed. The love of my life is standing at the door for me and I just can’t cross the line.’

‘It was my frustration that he unleashed with his harsh words’.

‘Now my house is a war field. There is no peace. The bickering, the quarrels, are an everyday thing. It’s affecting my daughter. And there is nothing I can do to stop any of it. 

Amidst all of these, Anusha cleared her 12^th. After her 12^th, she went to Paris for a fashion design course and it opened the doors of her dreams. She became a model and buried herself in work as there was no peace at home. Both of her parents were so egoistic that they wasted every single day of their lives brewing negativity. 

One day her makeup man noticed enlarged lymph nodes and she was getting a fever, on and off. She went for a consultation and was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It’s a type of cancer that originates from a specific type of white blood cells called lymphocytes. The most common symptoms are fever, night sweats, weight loss, and lymph node enlargement. 

It was another big blow that had jolted her. She underwent chemotherapy and radiation and came through as a fighter after multiple rounds. 

She came to me asking for natural ways to prevent and deal with the fear of recurrence. I counseled her and prescribed her medicines to lower her risk of recurrence. I taught her pranayama and taught her relaxation techniques. 

She said to me that living with cancer was tough but it’s even tougher to live with her parents who behave like children. My dad kept saying that the day I got married his responsibility would be over and he would live no more.

Last year   Anusha got married to her boyfriend and three days later her father died. There was no medical illness he died of a heart attack. The words that he kept repeating, after all, came true!!!

Anusha cried and said, ‘It’s my dad in my womb. He is coming back to me for a happy life.

(Note: The name of the individual in this article has been changed to Anusha to ensure their privacy.)